Woomi is an old-school 닭갈비 dakgalbi restaurant that has been in the mountain lakeside city of 춘천 Chuncheon, South Korea, since 1970. This was the Chuncheon dakgalbi I remember from my teaching English in the city in 1997. That was before the 2002 Korean TV drama 겨울연가 Gyeoun Yeonga (Winter Sonata) turned the sites used for filming into a foreign tourism magnet as well as the 2005 closure of the U.S. Army’s Camp Page carried the...

BIFF Square gets its name from the Busan International Film Festival. This annual film festival is one of the most prestigious film festivals in Asia. BIFF Square was the original location of the BIFF, which started in 1996. Although BIFF Square no longer plays hostess to the prestigious film festival — it was moved to the newly built Busan Cinema Center (영화의전당) in 2012 — the square is still a busy place, lined with a wide variety of...

In the back alleys near Dongdaemun there are a lot of grilled fish and weekday lunch stops that are popular with workers in the city. These are where the jewels are found, but tourists and expats rarely go off the main street to explore them. Don’t be afraid. The smell alone is amazing. So, I was playing with my “food porn” lens while this nice ajumma showed me how she grilled her fish, and this shot came out. It...

This past Sunday, I met up with Fatman Seoul and Dan Gray (Seoul Eats) in that little haven that I have grown to love this past year–Ansan Asia Town. I’m waiting for them to post what we did, as they had their high-powered cameras shuttering so much that I just gave up and pocketed mine. Highlights: Best Vietnamese food in Korea Addictive braided Chinese doughnuts Dan found shallots Fatman and I got some Thai and...

Filipino Market Stalls in Hyewha-dong Something magical happens every Sunday in northern Seoul. Korea’s growing Filipino population come out and create what some call “Little Manila” on the sidewalk near the busy streets. Some say that it actually is like a snapshot of Manila itself. Me? I came for these. Gorgeous, huh? These are not just any sausages. They’re longanisas. Sweet. Garlicky. Pork fat!!! Actually...

Brant had been bugging me for a long time to go on a venture down Meat Street behind his apartment in Ilsan. It doesn’t take much to persuade me, but Ilsan is also a major journey for me. But wow, it’s great. It’s rows and rows of restaurants grilling meats — mostly ribs — each trying to get your business. On Easter Sunday, we finally did the Meat Street thing and had some ribs at this one joint. It was...